Renee Watson, New School alumna and author of the new young adult novel, This Side of Home, will be speaking on a panel at the upcoming event, We Need Diverse Books hosted by TNS on April 15 . The three-time childrens book writer focuses her novels on issues of race and gentrification, having seen first hand how her hometown community of Portland, Oregon changed over time.
“I like the TV show Portlandia, but that’s not what my Portland looked like. In junior high, my neighborhood completely changed. Poor people were pushed out. It happened when I moved to Brooklyn too. I didn’t know the word gentrification yet, but I’d felt it.”
These personal experiences inspired her new book This Side of Home, published by Bloomsbury. It tells the story of African American twin sisters, Nikki and Maya’s different beliefs on race and cultural identity in a diversifying neighborhood. One sister is excited about new boutiques and coffee shops, the other is not.
Now unable to recognize where she grew up, Watson believes that communities can be revitalized without being erased. She intentionally created twin sisters to show both sides— innovation and confusion—which she thinks is common today. “This isn’t a pun about race- but things aren’t black and white. They’re complicated. Young people need to be talking about racial issues and class. Personal stories are a good place to start.”
Watson isn’t worried white readers won’t relate to her black characters. “I grew up reading Catcher In the Rye, Of Mice and Men, Great Gatsby. Black readers read and understand white characters all the time,” she said at an interview at The New School on March 9, where the 36 year-old recently spoke on what prompted her latest YA novel.
Watson’s first novel, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, was inspired by her time working with children in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Her following book Harlem’s Little Blackbird was nominated for an NAACP award in 2013.
Watson discovered her passion for writing in elementary school. “I’ve always taken myself seriously, even when nobody validated me,” she said. Now she tries to empower young students through writing and song. “Sometimes I find my bravery in them. They don’t know how to censor yet,” she said. “They just say the truth.”
Watson will be a panelist for We Need Diverse Books at the New School April 15th at 6pm. We Need Diverse Books is a grassroots publishing company geared to increasing visibility of diverse books and authors, with a goal of empowering a wide range of readers in the process. Other panelists at the event include, Allie Jane Bruce, Sona Charaipotra, Dhonelle Clayton and Tim Federle.
The event is will be held at the Klein Conference Room, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall